I knew this woman who had been accused of many things.
- hating men because she needed to defend herself from attack
- of being a racist because her attacker was a different race
- of being a slut because she was attractive
- of being a precocious child into causing someone to want to try and groom her for child sex
- punished for walking away from the situation - told that if she said anything she would never see her family again
- abandoned by her parents at a young age
- yelled at, ignored, lied about, lied to..... need I go on?
I asked her - Do you think any of these things would have happened to you if you had been a boy?
Her reply - Maybe so, I don't know.
I am sure there are many boys who have been treated equally as badly by women, and I don't think there should be a gender stereo-typing about abuse. Also this is the perfect opportunity to say that this woman who has been through the mill in her life, should be a bag of flour by now - but she isn't and here's why:
She felt empowered by others. This empowerment gave her back her courage. A part of this empowerment came from the society she lived in.
A society where a woman had social freedoms. A society of women who had fought for equal rights with men.
This is one reason why International Women's Day is important.
In the United States, the Republicans in Congress are eroding women's rights little by little. Unfortunately, in this country, International Women's Day isn't recognized like it is in Europe. Which is why we need a day that all women are recognized, not just mothers. Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I'd forget about officialdom and do it anyway regardless of what day it is, there isn't enough time for it to be once a year.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't just women, but also the men who supported the cause that got women the votes and the jobs. If you were a pioneer or a farmer's wife, life was hard but you were equal with your husband in terms of how much work you both did in order for the family to survive. When it stopped being a case of survival, but of wealth and over-sufficiency, that is when things began to fall apart.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by :)
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